Its adaptability to different soils and climates, and malleability in the wine room make Chardonnay one of the most popular and ubiquitous grapes. Responsible for some of the world’s most thrilling white wines wines including Champagne, it is in its homeland of Burgundy with villages such as Chablis, Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet that producers craft arguably some of the world’s finest wines. Chardonnay is also synonymous with California, where it can display riper, tropical fruit flavors, rather than the more restrained stone fruit and steely, mineral qualities often associated with its Old World and cool climate counterparts. While there are terrific fresh and vibrant Chardonnays made solely using stainless steel, the grape also knits terrifically well with oak, lending greater depth and weight in the form of a nutty, toasty and somtimes buttery component.
Two hundred miles south east of Paris lies the famous and historic wine region, known in French as Bourgogne. The Cote d'Or, the heartland of the region, consists of two distinct sub-regions split on either side of the town of Beaune.The Côte de Nuits to the north, includes the famous villages of Vosne-Romanee, Gevrey-Chambertin, and Nuits-Saint-Georges and are known primarily for making red wine from Pinot Noir.Although The Côte de Beaune to the south still makes some magnificent reds (see Volnay and Pommard), white wine made from Chardonnay is the main focus. The most famous villages are Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Burgundy has three other important regions. The village of Chablis (exclusively Chardonnay) encompassing the region's most northerly vineyards. The Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais to south are quantitatively speaking more important. Agriculture is more diverse with a significant portion of the land devoted to livestock and arable farming.
Although considered part of Burgundy - situated just south of Maconnais – Beaujolais is quite different wine territory. The predominant grape variety is Gamay which thrives on the granite and schist soils, meanwhile a small amount of Chardonnay is grown at the top of the region where limestone is more prevalent. Although the region’s reputation is – rather unfairly – based off Beaujolais-Nouveau (the now highly publicized tradition of opening a few bottles of the latest vintage), the region’s highest quality wines comes from ten named villages. The largest in style and longest lived tend to be Moulin-a-Vent and Morgon, while Chenas and Fleurie are lighter and typically express more floral aromas. They can be appreciated year round but seem particularly appropriate in the summer and pair exceptionally well with cheese and charcuterie.
